{"id":99082,"date":"2020-12-08T10:22:17","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T15:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=99082"},"modified":"2022-09-28T15:58:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T19:58:19","slug":"brushing-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2020\/12\/08\/brushing-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Brushing up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Wright State University modern languages students have put their feelings to the canvas following virtual seminars with international artists and scholars on topics ranging from music and poetry to African migration and the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n

It was part of a novel language and art digital technology project overseen by Damaris Serrano, associate professor of Spanish<\/a>. In 2018, Serrano received her native Panama\u2019s highest literary honor for her essay \u201cPanama Post\/Modernity\/Post: (The journey of a Poetic-Narrative Strategy).\u201d<\/p>\n

Serrano arranged to have well-known artists, authors and scholars from Panama, Mexico and the United States conduct virtual workshops with her students. The students then analyzed poems and texts and each produced a painting about their feelings of the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not an artist by any means, but being able to express through that avenue was challenging and relaxing and liberating in one exercise,\u201d said Rachael Mckinney, a Spanish and international studies major from Cedarville.<\/p>\n

Mckinney painted a palm tree bending in the wind of a storm with a rainbow overhead in the background.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose that painting because I believe that we always have storms in life that we pass through. However, a palm tree bends in the wind, moves with the storm, but rarely breaks,\u201d she said. \u201cOne can make it through a storm without breaking and become stronger. The rainbow signifies hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students\u2019 artwork will be used in a digital collage on the cover of a journal that will be posted on the Department of Modern Languages website<\/a> in the spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis really has been a collaboration in the classroom at a time when we are separated,\u201d said Serrano. \u201cBut knowledge and culture is always a way to connect us all. It is a reinforcement of our identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The course is based on modern and postmodern identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students had to explore their inner thoughts about it,\u201d said Serrano. \u201cThey created an identity doll in order to know how far they could trace their ancestors. When they explained that in class, it was touching. I got goosebumps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mckinney said the exercise helped the students gain a greater understanding of who they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also helps appreciate how far we’ve come,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat our ancestors faced gives a deeper appreciation for where we are today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instrumental to bringing the project to fruition was Beth Anderson, night supervisor of information commons at Wright State University Libraries. Anderson works at the Student Technology Assistance Center (STAC), assisting students with multimedia projects.<\/p>\n

Another crucial person was Ben Penry, digital technology analyst for the Center for Teaching and Learning. Penry digitally shadowed the classes to make sure that the guest speakers had the best digital connections and that everything went smoothly.<\/p>\n

The artists and scholars who conducted the virtual workshops were:<\/p>\n